Carlos Alcaraz admits he ‘felt the pressure’ in Olympic final defeat
Carlos Alcaraz has reflected on his Olympic final defeat to Novak Djokovic, with the Spaniard revealing the different feelings he had compared to previous Grand Slam finals.
Alcaraz had reached the singles final at his first Olympic Games without dropping a set, but suffered a straight sets loss in the final to top seed Djokovic.
After the match, the four-time major winner explained why the Olympic final felt different, “Itās a little bit different. I mean, I was playing for the gold medal, I was playing for Spain and it is not the same. I have played four Grand Slam finals and in the difficult moments, in the tough situations, I increased my level, I played really great tennis.
“And today probably I felt more the pressure. Maybe other players are not playing in the same way or feeling the pressure about playing for his flag, for his country. Probably myself, I felt the pressure in those situations that I couldnāt play my best tennis so I could feel the difference about playing Grand Slams and playing the final of Olympic Games.”
The 21-year-old added, “I play four Grand Slams every year and Olympic Games is one every four years so probably you could feel the pressure playing. As I said, I could feel [it].”
Alcaraz was very emotional in the initial aftermath of his final defeat, but now appears to be reflecting on his silver medal with a different mindset, “Iām really proud and Iām leaving the court, Iām leaving the tournament with my head really, really high knowing that I gave everything on the court, I gave everything that I could on court today and I will [be] back stronger and I hope to learn from this situation.”
Me voy con una medalla de plata increĆble ā¤ļø y con la cabeza alta despuĆ©s de una tremenda batalla hoy! Enhorabuena @DjokerNole por ese oro que tanto has buscado š¤š»
šø Getty pic.twitter.com/yNgwBilVBO
ā Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) August 4, 2024
The world No.3 will now have a week away from the matchcourt after withdrawing from the ATP 1000 event in Montreal, but is set to return for the US hard court swing in Cincinnati.
Inside the baseline…
As disappointing as an Olympic final defeat must be, Carlos Alcaraz still played incredibly well and was just beaten by a phenomenal performance from Novak Djokovic. It was clear how upset Alcaraz was after the match, but it is nice to see the 21-year-old having more perspective on the outcome and is seeing his silver medal in a more positive light. Djokovic won his first gold medal at 37-years-old, and Alcaraz should have several more opportunities to improve on his silver in Paris.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic reveals goal to play at 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles
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